Often on the fringe of outdoor sports and stereotyped as living in vans and sleeping in the dirt, vagabond rock climbers sometimes get a bad rap.

But when professional climbers Cedar Wright and Alex Honnold incorporated their climbing adventures with installing solar-power capabilities on homes and schools on the Navajo Nation, it caught national attention.

In the expansive Navajo Nation, an estimated 18,000 households have no electricity at all, and many people have never had power.

Honnold told National Geographic’s online adventure blog Beyond the Edge that he is drawn to climbing opportunities in the desert Southwest and recognized that solar power could help the people who live there.

“It seems like the perfect fit,” he told Beyond the Edge.

Honnold, who really does live in his van, operates a foundation supporting solar-powered nonprofit groups. Known for his bold and astounding free-solo ascents, with no protection or room for error, he said he likes donating his time for a good cause.

“It’s nice to try and do something useful for the real world through a climbing trip,” he said.

bmathis@durangoherald.com